1. Field of the Invention
This application is related to co-pending applications, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REGENERATIVE AND FRICTION BRAKING", "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REGENERATIVE AND FRICTION BRAKING" and "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REGENERATIVE AND ANTI-SKID FRICTION BRAKING", respectively, all filed on Sep. 30, 1997 and assigned to the assignee of the present application.
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for regenerative and friction braking of a motor vehicle having an electric drive motor. More particularly, the present invention relates to proportioning regenerative braking to maintain a desirable front to rear brake distribution.
2. Disclosure Information
The general principle of regenerative braking has been recognized by manufacturers of electric vehicles as a way of increasing the overall efficiency of the vehicle. Regenerative braking seeks to recover as much of the kinetic energy of the vehicle which is normally dissipated as heat through a normal hydraulic friction system by operating the electric motor drive as a generator and restoring the generated electricity to a battery or other energy storage device. Various methods have been proposed for accomplishing regenerative braking in such electric vehicles, however, these regenerative systems generally require additional hardware above and beyond that normally associated with a hydraulic braking system. Further, it has been observed that some regenerative braking systems do not provide desirable proportioning of the front and rear braking torques.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a proportional regenerative braking system capable of proportioning the regenerative brake torque to maintain a desirable front to rear brake distribution.